Purchasers of automobiles are known to prefer vehicle exteriors with hidden or concealed light sources as a distinguishing decorative appearance for the vehicle. Accordingly, the use of concealed interior lighting may also prove to be a desirable decorative feature. Styling efforts for vehicle interiors have traditionally worked around various lighting sources, such as the roof dome light and trim mounted reading or map lights. Such styling constraints limit the appearance that may be achieved and, as a result, constrains the customer satisfaction with the interior styling.
Hiding the light sources within the interior would remove the constraints on the styling efforts and enable substantial changes in interior styling for automotive interiors. Previous attempts to hide the lighting sources have resulted in indirect lighting which has proven to be difficult to attain and often does not achieve appearance objectives. Preferably, the lighting source would be invisible to the customer when not illuminated, yet provide sufficient lighting to fulfill the intended function of the light source, i.e. reading lamp, a dome lamp, or an ambient lamp.
One example of indirect interior lighting for an automobile can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,238, granted on Dec. 13, 2005, to Alan Sturt, et al, in which light sources are hidden behind trim pieces within the interior of the passenger compartment to shine light through an opening associated with the arrangement of the interior trim pieces so that the light sources cannot be seen when illuminated. One substantial drawback with such indirect lighting schemes is the attainment of the lighting functions. In U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0017687 of David Misaras, published on Jan. 29, 2004, the outer skin of automotive trim is perforated to form openings therein or formed of translucent material to allow light to escape from behind the surface of the trim piece where a light source, such as an LED or a light pipe, is mounted. Such lighting arrangements are not invisible when not illuminated.
In U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0160334 of Weston Cobb, et al, published on Jul. 12, 2007, end-emitting fiber optic indicia are formed in the shape of a logo, letter, picture or other arrangement to provide a decorative feature for the interior of a motor vehicle using an LED as a remote light source. The illumination system disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0047246 of Dieter Barowski, published on Mar. 1, 2007, also utilizes illumination units disposed within a gap at a location remote from the light distribution surface. An interior cover panel covers the illumination system.
It would be desirable to provide concealed lighting arrangements for the interior of an automotive passenger compartment in which the light source is recessed into the interior structure and hidden behind a layer of fabric and/or foam so that the light source is invisible when not illuminated, but able to provide sufficient lighting to fulfill the lighting requirements for the light source.